


The Making of Happiness

by tardisbluerose



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Break Up, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-07
Updated: 2013-10-09
Packaged: 2017-12-28 16:10:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/993911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tardisbluerose/pseuds/tardisbluerose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you achieve what you've always wanted for your life you need to find someone to share that victory with you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I wrote a while ago and it's unbetaed, so don't throw rocks at me. Yes, it is already written, but I'm going to be mean and post the next chapters as I get the time to.

_This is it. I did what I had to do. He is dead, and now it's forever._

_All my life - for as long as I know my magical self - was devoted to hunting down and killing Voldemort, and now I did it, I feel that I must reward myself for the first time in seven years. How to do this is simple and she is just standing a dozen of yards away. She's waiting for me, I know she is; she has been waiting for too long and this is how I know she loves me._

_I plunge myself in her direction. The sight of her beautiful red hair, waving around her head and gracefully skimming over her shoulders as she runs towards me, cannot make me happier; the way that she smiles makes my head spin; how her eyes seem to shine more whenever I approach her or whenever I glance in her direction. 'She's the one', my head screams as I reach in on her and lean for a long, victorious kiss._

_'Oh, Harry,' she sighs as I break the kiss, 'Finally. We can be happy now.' The smile on her rose lips make my insides melt, make me accomplished._

_'I'll never let you go, ever again,' I whisper back at her, hugging her closer to me. I close my eyes so that her heat fills my soul, but as soon as I open my eyes I acknowledge the destruction around us. Hogwarts, my only home, was in ruins, but I couldn't let that sight depress me so I chuckle at her and say, 'Look at what have we done just to be together...'_

_She looks around with a sad smile, and says, 'Yeah... But don't worry, it will be fixed in a blink of an eye. Now, let's just enjoy. We can finally be together, and nothing can take us apart.' She caresses my face sweetly and claims my lips for a kiss._

_As we part the kiss, I can't but keep holding her in my arms. Her tiny body seemed to intertwine so perfectly with mine, and from this moment on I know that we're bound. Around us, I can hear people shouting and congratulating me, saying I'm their hero. I but don't really care about what other people think about me anymore: all I ever needed is right in my arms and - Merlin, forbid me - I can't even think of letting her go._

_I look down at her and, still drunk with the heat of the moment, say, 'I promise you that I'll do whatever it takes to make you the happiest woman to ever walk on Earth. I'll make each moment count; I'll go wherever you need me to go; I'll do everything I couldn't do all these years I've kept you waiting. One day, you'll be Mrs. Potter.'_

_She stares right into my eyes and grins. 'You are amazing, Harry, and I have no doubt that you will make me feel great as long as you're beside me. But I also want to give you what no one gave to you before; I want to cater to all your wishes; I want to make you feel loved, not for what your name stands for, but for who you really are. I love you, Harry, and I promise you I'll always be there.'_

_As we lean forward for yet another kiss, a shaded woman's figure appears right in front of us, her wand pointing towards us. The universe seems to have stopped and the only moving characters, in this game called life, are the three of us. She starts walking towards us, her wand at the height of her eyes, and the last thing I see is a jet of green light, shot at both me and Ginny._

_'No!'_

Harry woke up in a sweat. Her scent flooded his nostrils and a feeling of guilt flooded his mind. The dream was so vivid, almost as if he was living that moment all over again - at least part of it. It was the third time in a row that dream invaded his sleep. The dream was always the same: he was standing with Ginny, making promises, when a woman's figure came to kill them. Why would he be dreaming about that? In the past, he learned that dreams can be a message from our conscience, that they can convey metaphors to explain the present. He was now starting to understand what the message could be: not all was going according to his plans. How could he have promised that - no - how could they have promised that to each other if they didn't have any idea of what the future reserved for them?

Reluctantly he got up and walked out of his bedroom. The promises he made to her were too important and he was letting them go. He had to see her, he had to talk to her, even though he knew he was walking out on her.


	2. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Everything was changing, in what way he was unsure, but nothing would be the same after that afternoon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbetaed

It was a cold autumn night, there was no living soul walking on the street, nor where there cars on the road; the rain was pounding heavily on the window and no sound could be heard inside the apartment except for the roaring rain. Inside, a man was looking at that natural chaos, his green eyes wouldn't move or squint, his face washed by a pensive expression.

Three years had passed since the victory over Voldemort, and what seemed so absolutely resolved back then was now starting to lose meaning. Harry Potter was famous, victorious; his face was all over the world, every child respected him and looked up to him. He was a hero, an overachieved young man indeed, but his heart was still far from achieving the happiness he longed.

He was dating Ginny ever since the glorious victory, and Ron and Hermione also seemed to be pretty happy since then. Even though all four of them were together since then, no one had yet taken the next steps towards the true couple life. Harry had moved in with Ron a year ago in to an apartment in central London, just a couple of minutes away from the Ministry of Magic where they worked as Aurors. Ginny still lived at the Burrow mainly because Mrs. Weasley was having a hard time getting past Fred's death and could not yet bare another child of hers leave home. As for Hermione, she practically lived at St. Mungo's hospital even though she had rented an apartment with some friends from work.

Overall, life seemed to be going just as he planned. There was only one thing that he would change: his heart. Even though Ginny was the girl he had once dreamed spending the rest of his life with, something changed deep within him. Something about her - no - something about him, was wrong. Every time they were together, he'd feel as if something was missing, as if the fire had extinguished. 'Nothing lasts forever, I guess,' he muttered.

Suddenly the door cracked open and a drenched Ron walked in. 'Bleeding Merlin! What a mayhem outside!' He took off his drench-coat and casted a Drying Charm on it. 'Did you make anything for dinner, Harry? I'm starving,' he walked towards Harry but he received no answer. 'Harry? You in there?'

'Oh, hi Ron… I'm sorry, what?' he said, snapping out of his thoughts.

'Did you make dinner? Rainy days kinda make me hungrier… What were you thinking about?' replied Ron, as he dived his hand on his pocket to grab something and, without letting Harry respond to his question, added: 'What do you think?' He opened a small box. Inside was a beautiful ruby and diamond ring.

'Whoa, I know we're really good friends, Ron, but I'm not yet gay,' he chuckled nervously. He knew what that meant.

'Harry, you're too funny! I'm proposing to Hermione, not you, snitch-head,' he laughed. Harry's heart stopped for a split second. His life flashed in front o his eyes as if the fact of Ron and Hermione getting married would mean his death. 'I'm doing it tomorrow at the party at Hog's Head. What do you think she'll say?'

Harry looked down at the ring expressionlessly. That could mean that, in a matter of a year or less, he'd be the only one who was still single since his feelings for Ginny were no longer the same. He would be alone. 'I dunno, but she's probably gonna freak out,' he uttered finally.

'Freak out? As in shriek of emotion and faint on my arms?' inquired Ron. 'Anyway, I just hope she says yes.'

'Yeah, I hope so,' replied Harry smiling awkwardly. Why was he feeling so sad with such an exhilarating announcement? Was it just for the fact that he was the only one that could't still think of such a commitment? Or could it be more than that: a feeling, a fear, or probably a mix of both? He shook his head hoping that thought would leave him. 'Anyway, let's have dinner?'

Ron put the ring away and stormed towards the kitchen. 'I thought you'd never say that!'

Sunlight washed Harry's face what seemed to be too soon that morning. He wasn't able to sleep all night; he dreamed about Ginny, only to wake up feeling agonised, and also dreamed about Ron and Hermione. That last dream was like a nightmare. For some reason he could't bear the thought of his two best friends getting married. He reached lazily to his glasses and put them on. It was 9 a.m and he could already hear noise from the living room.

He got up, grabbed his robe and dragged his feet across the room and opened the door. In the living room, Ron was already dressed and was walking around impatiently murmuring words as he fumbled his pockets, probably to guarantee he had all he needed. "Oh, you're finally up, mate! Get dressed, we need to go!" said Ron as he acknowledged Harry's presence.

'What, now? The party won't start 'till eleven… What's the hurry?' he was barely awake let alone have the physical and mental strength to even have bath.

Ron looked at Harry incredulously. 'Of course, now! We never know what may happen… There can be a setback or something!' Harry could see how nervous Ron was. This was the big day for him.

'But we're Apparating there, aren't we? So why hurry?' said Harry rubbing his eyes. 'Do you know if Ginny's going?'

'Don't be such a lazy ass,' Ron replied promptly. 'And you should know better if Ginny's going; you're the boyfriend,not me,' he added with a slight punch on Harry's arm that almost knocked him off.

Harry rubbed the area where Ron had punched him. 'Ouch, do not punch me when I'm still waking up, will you? And I haven't talked to Ginny since last Friday, I dunno what she's up to.'

'We'll figure out when we get to Hogsmeade. Now, c'mon!'

The party was going incredibly well. Everyone was cheering and dancing, after all it was the commemoration of the third anniversary over Voldemort's defeat. But all - and that included old Aberforth - except Harry seemed to be having fun. 'What's wrong, Harry?' asked a sweet woman's voice. Harry felt a shiver running down his spine, an unusual feeling for him. 'This party is all about you, why aren't you happy?' she inquired worryingly, sitting by his side.

'Oh, I don't know, Hermione…' he managed to say. 'I feel empty.'

'What are you talking about? You have conquered what you most desired and you found the perfect girl for you, what could make you feel that way? It isn't about your parents or Sirius, is it?' The worry in Hermione's voice was so comforting he wished that he could just hold her.

'No, it's not about them,' he paused thinking if he should confess his feelings to her, after all she too was Ginny's friend. He let out a loud sigh and said: 'it's about Ginny.'

Hermione looked astonished. 'G- Ginny? Why? What's wrong?'

'I guess that everything has its time, and that also applies to love. I don't think I love her anymore,' he said as he looked to Hermione. He had never noticed how beautiful his friend was, how gracefully her hair touched her shoulders and how physically attractive she was. He shook his head, still in disbelief of what he had just thought. 'She's taken, brain, stop it'.

'Oh my, I thought you were just fine. Did you tell her already?' she replied putting her hand over Harry's shoulder and gently caressing it.

'No, I was waiting for her to come. But I guess she's on the same page about me… We haven't talked since last Friday,' he said, a hint of sadness running across his expression.

Hermione hugged him with all her strength. He felt her warm body press against his, a motherly warmth but at the same time he could also feel that an overpowered feeling was taking control. 'No, I can't,' he thought, but maybe it was too late.

The music stopped suddenly and Hermione broke the hug, mouthing 'It's gonna be fine' and they both turned to the front. A overly excited Ron (maybe because of the beer he had been drinking) got on a chair and exclaimed: 'Everyone, I have an announcement to make!' he paused and looked at Hermione. 'Hermione, can you come here?' he asked with a huge grin on his face. Hermione got up, with a puzzled look on her face, and walked towards her boyfriend. As she approached him, Ron got down on his knee and held up the small box that he had shown Harry the night before and asked her: 'Will you marry me, Hermione Granger?'

She covered her mouth with her hand and froze for a couple of minutes. 'I- I…' she stuttered, her face turning to a bright shade of red.

'Hmm, I have all the time but my arm is starting to give in, babe,' said Ron nervously.

'I'm sorry', she uttered as she turned away and ran out of the bar.

Harry blinked twice just to be sure that that wasn't a dream. Hermione had just refused Ron's proposal without an explanation. He looked around and gazed at each and everyone that was at the party: was it just him, or had that just happened? Everyone looked as dumbfounded as he was and Ron was standing there, on his knees, completely apathetic.

Everything was changing, in what way he was unsure, but nothing would be the same after that afternoon.


	3. Explanations

All happened quickly, he hadn't even been able to move away from where he was seated. He glanced at the distraught Ron several times before even thinking about standing up to comfort him. As he finally gathered the strength to get up, he walked towards his friend and patted him in the back, in a sign of reassurance. Ron looked up to him, teary eyed, but Harry wasn't even able to utter a single word.

His whole world had stopped when Hermione stormed out of the bar, he was left speechless. In a way, he was happy and, at the same time, repudiated that he could think of that moment like that. Both Ron and Hermione were his best friends and he had just watched them fall, unable to stop it from happening.

'Why, Harry, why?' Ron asked, his face was bright red, a mixture of anger and sadness.

Harry looked down, trying to come up with a good answer, but instead he just whispered: 'I don't know, Ron. I'm sorry.' He shifted his head away so that Ron couldn't see his expression. For a long time now, he had been fantasising about Hermione. Whenever he saw her, he couldn't but think how amazingly beautiful she had become. She was no longer the skinny girl he had met back in his first year in Hogwarts; she became a woman, a full grown woman. Sometimes, when Hermione used to spend the night at his and Ron's apartment, he used to stare longly at her without her even noticing. He would watch her every movement; from the way that she flipped the pages of books, the way that she scribbled notes, the way that she would hold up her hair, and he would even watch her fall asleep on the sofa and would wish that he could just lay next to her.

Suddenly, the bar's door swung open and a light breeze flew in, awaking the yet dumbfounded crowd and snapping Harry out of his dream. At the threshold stood a beautiful woman's figure. Harry's heart skipped a beat; it was Ginny. "I'm sorry I'm late!" she exclaimed but no-one answered her. 'Um... Why's everyone so quiet?'

'Ginny,' Harry started, 'bad timing.'

She approached him with a inquisitive look on her face, lifting herself up to kiss him. Only after she acknowledged the presence of her older brother. 'What happened, Ron?' she asked worriedly.

Harry didn't let Ron answer and, instead, he signalled Ginny to wait and lifted Ron up. "Get yourself together, go after her," he whispered. 'Let's talk,' he told Ginny, harshly.

Harry lead Ginny out of the bar into Hogsmeade's streets. 'Wait!' she exclaimed, 'what's wrong?'

He stopped and turned towards Ginny. Her eyes pierced his face and he felt weakness taking over his body. Even though he didn't feel the same way that he felt three years ago, she could still make his head melt with her charm. 'Hermione... She refused Ron's proposal,' he finally uttered.

'What? Proposal? He proposed to her?' she said astonished. 'And she said no?' Ginny fell into a deep, pensive silence.

'Well, actually she said "I'm sorry" and left, but I guess that's pretty much a no,' he said. Just like Ginny had done, Harry also fell into a deep silence. This had to be done, he couldn't postpone it: he had to tell her about his feelings. 'Ginny, I...' he stuttered, guilt painted all over his face. In his head, all he could wish for was that he would never have to do this, that he could just go back in time and never having made the promises he did.

'I have something to tell you,' she cut him off, as if she had read his mind. 'I hope you don't get mad, but I...'

Harry signalled her to stop once again. 'Ginny, I guess that what I have to tell you is much more important.' She froze, her eyes were wide open and a fearing look over took her expression. 'I think I fell out of love,' he said quickly and almost incomprehensibly.

'Wow,' she said blankly. 'What a day, uh...' Her eyes were fixed on him, as a frown started to form on her face.

'I'm sorry... You know, everything has it's end, and I just couldn't keep promising you what I couldn't do. I don't know how it happened, it was as if I woke up feeling differently...' He looked down to her, in hope to see her agreeing with him, to see her finding what he said logical.

She looked at him with disdain, instead. 'Whatever. I'm going to get a beer', she said as she started to walk away.

'Ginny - Wait!' he took gigantic steps to reach her by the arm. 'I still want to be your friend.'

'Friends, uh? I'll be your friend... But not today. Now, let me go.'

Harry just stood there, watching Ginny walk away. It had been harsher than he thought it would be. In the past three years, Ginny proved to have grown a lot and he could have never fathomed that she would take the break-up so badly. Yet, he did what he had to do, and he felt good about it.

She was crying like she had never cried before. Why did he have to do that? Her whole world collapsed when he asked her that fatal question; she couldn't do it for one simple reason: she didn't love him anymore, she had been fantasising about another man for months now and she was going to tell him. When he opened that small box, her heart sank, she was unable to even give a throughout answer, her intelligence and wit abandoned her that precise moment.

In the last couple of months, she dreamed about a very close friend. A friend that she recently figured out that he was the one her heart was devoted to all along. Quite similarly to Ron, he had also grown to be a handsome man, but there was more than just looks: Harry Potter had saved her; Harry had given her a reason to be happy. She knew that, whenever she would go to his place, he would watch her; and she liked it. Sometimes, she would drop her quill on purpose just to see his reaction when she curled down to get it back. She knew she was a teaser, but she also knew that he liked to be teased even if he didn't know that she was doing it on purpose. But even if she wanted to tell him how attracted she was to him, she couldn't. Maybe because she was afraid that he would turn her down, after all she was still Ron's girlfriend and he was still Ginny's boyfriend.

Hermione stood up, resolute to go home, sleep and forget about what just happened. But something stopped her. Out in the distance she could hear Ron screaming her name. 'Oh damn, will this man ever accept a no for an answer?' she said to herself, angrily. Reluctant, she walked out of the alley she was hiding in and promptly found him with a desperate look upon his face.

He ran to her as soon as he fixed his sight on her. 'Hermione...' he panted, as he tried to regain his breath. 'Why did you run away?'

She looked at him sadly. There were no words in the English dictionary that could explain what she needed to tell him, at least not throughly as she always wanted to do. 'Oh Ron... I don't even know what to say...'

'Just say the truth! I beg you. How could you do that? To me!' he emphasised. His eyes were red and swollen; she made him cry, she made the man that had always made her smile cry. 'I forgive you, for whatever reason you did that, but just tell me the truth...'

'I can't do it anymore,' she breathed as a tear rolled out of her eye. She loved Ron, but she didn't love him enough to marry him; she loved him as a friend and - swear to Merlin - she would break as many rules it took just to make him happy. But now she also had to break his heart, and by doing so she was also breaking her own.

Ron stood there, appalled. She lifted her head to look at him: his arms had fallen at the length of his body, his face had turned to a pale yellow, his mouth semi-open. 'So... we're done?' he asked blankly.

Hermione wiped off the tears and lifted her head up, trying to act confident about what she was just about to say. 'Yes... It's over,' she said in a determined tone, even though inside she was falling apart. 'Ron, I beg you... Don't try to reach me for the next few days, or weeks... Just don't make me feel worse than I do now.'

As fast as he had popped the ring out of his pocket, she Disapparated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unbetaed


End file.
